Improving Aeroplan’s Member Experience with Voice Recognition Things to consider if you’re thinking about implementing voice recognition SpeechTEK, NYC, August 2007 Brian Rowland Director, Customer Service IT & Member Experience

2 3 key messages of this presentation Speech technology works just fine Speech as a replacement for tired touch tone IVRs is inevitable Facilitates “anywhere access”, even when internet not available Background noise and wind will continue to be a problem Voice print authentication (voice recognition) technology works just fine Highly effective against fraud and identity theft (privacy law compliant) Provides an excellent alternative to yet another password But it can be spooky for customers Business readiness is the key to demystification and acceptance of voice print authentication Customers must hear about it again and again Front-line staff must understand how it works so they can work with it and sell it to reluctant customers

3 About Aeroplan Began life as, and continues to be, Air Canada’s frequent flyer tier program manager 1 st FFP to be spun off as public company Expanded to become one of the largest Canadian-based coalition loyalty marketing companies Very aggressive growth targets Member base New partners Expand opportunities to earn & redeem miles Highly reliant on technology and electronic channels to deliver solutions The “buck” stops at the contact centres, but expanding them is not an option

4 Aeroplan members - snapshot 5 million+ members 50,000 new mbrs / mo. 27% of all Can hholds >80% of $100k+ hholds 36.87% 19.69% 15.53% 11.3% 5.02% 3.39% 2.8% 2.44% 1.71% 0.52% 0.42% 0.28% 0.04% 4 AC Frequent Flyer tiers Super Elite, Elite, Prestige, Basic Also high mileage accumulators through credit cards Membership

5 Aeroplan today – member activity Over 58 billion Aeroplan Miles accumulated in billion Aeroplan Miles were redeemed for rewards in 2005 More than 1.3 million reward tickets issued in M calls handled in Contact Centres / year 980 Customer Contact Sales and Service Agents in Vancouver and Montreal 1M visitors / month to aeroplan.com > 50% of all travel rewards tickets booked on Web 100% of Non-Flight Rewards booked on Web Focus on growth while delivering core business as efficiently as possible Electronic delivery channels must also grow in lockstep

6 Major features of the Speech application Voice print capture & authentication Account information Balance Recent transactions Tier status Mileage expiration date Address change (esp. during high wait times) Miles needed for air travel rewards Collateral requests General information on Aeroplan program Broadcast & Promotional messages Direct marketing opportunity Web password reset

7 Why voice print authentication? Password / challenge Q&A replaced by match to member’s voice print Significant advantage compared to legacy IVR & web Improve security beyond legacy IVR capabilities Comply with privacy legislation & greatly reduces potential for fraud Member-friendly, “password-less” account access FACT: Aeroplan currently spends 60% of its web support budget on web password reset calls Even though members have ability to reset their passwords themselves if they remember their or challenge questions No desire to add to this expense with the IVR/Speech channel Goal is to drive this expense down by encouraging members to self- service password resets via Speech

8 Voice print authentication – how it works at Aeroplan Member speaks AE number 3 times Member authenticates via Agent or Web PW Member calls and speaks AE number Live voice compared to voice print Agent informed of member authentication success/fail Access to personal member information in speech app First call – Enrolment Subsequent calls Voice print enrolment complete Member can enter web PW Fail Pass Let’s hear a demonstration…

9 Considerations for using voice prints Address members’ comfort with enrolling and leaving voice print “on file” Small test groups showed some hesitation Pilot shows that members overwhelmingly trust system Voice print authentication accuracy Find right security level to balance false negatives & false positives False negative is frustrating for members False positive could result in fraud False positive is barely greater than 1% Acceptable level for Aeroplan’s business context

10 Milestones in the Speech project Bright idea! Let’s implement Speech and voice print authentication 2002 Contact centre agents briefed on Speech system Member communications deployed Speech pilot deployed to 10% then to 25% of member base Late 2005 Realization that agents don’t fully understand nuances of speech & voice authentication More training, including “hands on” where agents use system Need identified for all agents to verify all members in same manner to ensure voice prints are 100% accurate Early 2006 Full deployment of Speech system Caller Verification Screen implemented for agents More agent training, including FAQ & “floor walkers” to answer questions Spring 2007 Recycle member communications to explain new system and benefits of voice print authentication Fall 2007

11 Results – Most recent statistics on the Speech system and voice print authentication 60% of callers provide their Aeroplan number to Speech; 40% do not Similar with touch tone IVR 85% of callers are the member; 15% are calling on member’s behalf 25% of callers already in voice print database and authenticate via voice print or web password “Highly engaged members” 90% of members who are offered option to enrol do begin enrolment process 63% do complete the voice print enrolment process 37% do not fully complete the enrolment process Likely less engaged members or those who do not understand the Why? For members who do complete enrolment process, 50% authenticate using an agent, 50% using their web password

12 Voice print authentication requires more extensive customer communications Continually answer the question “What is this all about and how does it work?” Give the customer reason to want to enrol their voice print “Password-less account access” Prep the customer prior to first phone call so that they are willing to take the time to enrol voice print Plan how to handle customers who skip voice print enrolment or decide to never enrol their voice print Decide how your business will handle customer account access for delegates / alternates Some customers may not like their accounts to be so “locked down” How many of you have spouses/partners/assistants who know your web passwords? Business readiness is key - Customers

13 Business readiness is key – Front-line staff These employees are your best marketing to reluctant or questioning customers Voice print authentication requires more extensive training to front-line staff Do not overestimate your staff’s technological prowess Hands on training is a must, both as a caller and as an agent taking a call Provide clear guidelines on how to handle customer calls depending on voice print status First time enrolment How to authenticate Must guarantee integrity of voice print database or risk a privacy breach Voice print matches Need for agent to further authenticate? Voice print doesn’t match Does customer have a cold? Background noise or wind? When should additional questions be asked to confirm identity, and which questions? When should agent flag account as possible privacy breach / fraud? When should agents recommend that customers re-enrol their voice print?

14 Try Aeroplan’s Speech application and voice print authentication for yourself Have Aeroplan number available Or enrol on aeroplan.com Know your Web password or authenticate via Agent

15 Speech architecture Ottawa Speech Farm 6 Genesys 3 Nuance Montreal Speech Farm 4 Genesys Firewall WEB Services (ESB) Aeroplan.com Vprint DB Direct Marketing (DM) WEB PIN Server 2 Nuance